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GitLab & GitHub Auto-Fix with sonar_autofix()

Source: vignettes/gitlab-autofix.Rmd
gitlab-autofix.Rmd

Overview

sonar_autofix() is a generic function for automatic code fixes with Git platform integration. It runs sonar_fix() to correct code issues, then commits changes and creates a Merge Request (GitLab) or Pull Request (GitHub).

The function auto-detects the CI environment:

Platform Detection Output
GitLab GITLAB_CI or CI_PROJECT_ID set Merge Request via API v4
GitHub GITHUB_ACTIONS set Pull Request via gh CLI

Quick start

One-liner (auto-detect)

The function automatically detects whether you’re in GitLab CI or GitHub Actions.

GitLab CI 

sonar_autofix(provider = "gitlab")

Requires GITLAB_TOKEN or CI_JOB_TOKEN environment variable.

GitHub Actions 

sonar_autofix(provider = "github")

Requires gh CLI installed and authenticated, or GITHUB_TOKEN set.

CI pipeline examples

GitLab CI 

rsonar-autofix:
  stage: fix
  when: manual
  script:
    - R -q -e "library(rsonar); sonar_autofix()"
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - sonar-fixes.json

GitHub Actions 

rsonar-autofix:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
    - name: Auto-fix
      run: |
        R -q -e "remotes::install_github('ddotta/rsonar')"
        R -q -e "library(rsonar); sonar_autofix()"

Parameters

Provider selection 

# Auto-detect
sonar_autofix(provider = "auto")

# Force GitLab
sonar_autofix(provider = "gitlab")

# Force GitHub
sonar_autofix(provider = "github")

Branch and target 

sonar_autofix(
  branch = "auto/style-fix",
  target_branch = "develop"
)

Fix categories 

# Only formatting and spacing
sonar_autofix(fixes = c("styler", "spacing", "cleanup"))

Dry-run mode 

# Simulate without modifying anything
sonar_autofix(dry_run = TRUE)

Auto-detected CI variables

GitLab

Variable Used for
GITLAB_CI Detect GitLab environment
CI_PROJECT_ID Project ID for API
CI_SERVER_URL GitLab server URL
CI_API_V4_URL API v4 endpoint
CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH Target branch

GitHub

Variable Used for
GITHUB_ACTIONS Detect GitHub environment
GITHUB_BASE_REF Target branch
GITHUB_TOKEN API authentication
GITHUB_RUN_ID Included in PR description

Token authentication

GitLab

Token resolution order: 1. GITLAB_TOKEN environment variable 2. PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable 3. CI_JOB_TOKEN (built-in GitLab CI token)

Setting up a Project Access Token: 1. Settings > Access Tokens > Add new token 2. Token name: rsonar-autofix 3. Role: Maintainer 4. Scopes: write_repository, api 5. Add to Settings > CI/CD > Variables as GITLAB_TOKEN (masked)

GitHub

Token resolution order: 1. GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable (Actions built-in) 2. gh CLI authentication (if installed)

How it works 

sonar_autofix(provider = "gitlab")
   │
   ├── 1. sonar_fix() → auto-correct code (16 fix categories)
   ├── 2. git checkout -b auto/rsonar-fix
   ├── 3. git add + git commit
   ├── 4. git push -f origin auto/rsonar-fix
   └── 5. GitLab API → POST /merge_requests
        or
        gh pr create → Pull Request

Architecture

The function uses a common engine for Git operations and platform-specific connectors:

  • .run_git_operations() — Common: checkout, commit, push
  • .create_gitlab_mr() — GitLab: Merge Request via API v4
  • .create_github_pr() — GitHub: Pull Request via gh CLI

Report

A JSON report is generated at sonar-fixes.json:

{
  "files": {
    "scanned": 42,
    "modified": 18
  },
  "fixes": {
    "styler": 205,
    "spacing": 81,
    "true_false": 9
  },
  "provider": "gitlab",
  "branch": "auto/rsonar-fix"
}

See also